Conduit electric railway



{No Model.)

L 0 PRESSLEY CONDITIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

No. 529,836 Patented Nov. 27, 1894.

cu. worn-limovv wasmucrw u c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEONIDAS O. PRESSLEY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

CONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,836, dated November 27, 1894.

pp icati n filed February 6,1894. Serial No. 499,272. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Bait known that I, LEONIDAS O. PRESSLEY, a c1t1zen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvementin Electr 1c Railways; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in electric railways of that class in which the current 1s carried beneath the surface of the ground and is to be transmitted at intervals totge rail through which power is to be app ie It consists in certain details of construction which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device wlth parts broken away. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section. V

The object of my invention is to convey an electrical current through completely insu lated and protected conductors, to transmit the current successively to short sections of the trolley rail during the passage of a car, and to out it off from said rail as soon as the car has passed.

A A are the tracks of a railroad.

B is a sealed main or tube parallel with'the tracks, within which is extended the wire 0 which conveys the current of electricity.

D is a conduit having metallic rails E E E 850., supported within it, these rails forming independent sections of any desired length as one hundred, five hundred orone thousand feet as may be found desirable; Theserails are insulated and separated from each other and are adapted to receive the rollers F'of a trolley or conducting shankG which extends into the conduit and follows the conducting rod, bar, or track as shown.

H is a transverse main or passage connecting with the sealed main B in which-the conducting wire 0 passes, and having a reciprocating rod I fitted in this transverse main passing through a suitably insulated stufiingbox J which, while it allows the rod to reciprocate, will prevent-any moisture from get- 7 ting into the main and forming contact with the conducting wire, and at the same time insulates the rod I. The transverse passage 'H extends from the sealed main B to the side of the conduit D and the rod I is movable within this passage as will be hereinafter described. The outer end of the rod'I is guided ,in a suitable box K and the inner end sliding through the insulator J is supported so that the rod may reciprocate in line. At points where these rods intersect the conducting wire 0, the latter has interposed in it a sort of yoke L which forms a double arch. Through this arch the rod I passes, and it has formed upon it a cone-shaped enlargement M of sufficient diameter so that when the rod is pushed inwardly the sides of this cone form contact with the sides of the arch L, and when it is pushed back so that the smaller diameter of the rod I lies between the sides of the arch, no contact is formed and the current is out off.

The wires 0 enter a T or coupling at the junction with each of the transverse passages H and are surrounded by a suitable insulating material which also hermetically seals the pipes B and prevents any moisture from entering them, andat the same time the yoke or arch L is prevented from displacement.

Upon the inner end of the rod I is an electro magnet N and attachedto the end of one of the rails E is another electro magnet 0. When the rodI is drawn back,the two magnets N and O are separated, and when it is moved forward by the attraction between these two magnets, a contact will beformed between the cone or enlargement M and the yoke or arch L, so that the current of electricity will be conveyed from the conducting wire 0 through the rod I and the magnets N and 0 into the rail E with which the magnets are connected.

The operation will then be as follows:As the trolley wheels F'F of a passing car, (here shown at the left of the sheet of drawings) pass from the section E of the track which has the current of electricity passing through it upon the next adjacent section E, a sufficient current will be transmitted into this next section passing through it to energize the magnets I and O at the other end of t s section, and thence through the contact R to the return through the wire S. These magnets being energized will attract each other with sufiicient force to come together and thus draw the rod I inwardly until the cone M has formed contact with the arch L when a current will be diverted from the conductlng wire 0 into the rod I and thence to the track E thus temporarily charging this track. Meantime as the trolley passes from the first section E to the next section E, a projecting arm P will act upon alever arm Q on magnet N which in turn acts to forcibly separate the magnets N and O at this point. This cuts oii the current of electricity from the rail E which had hitherto been charged by reason of contact of the rod I at this point with the conducting wire and the current with which the rail E is now charged from its opposite end will continue to act upon the car motor until the car has reached the end of the rail E. Then when the trolley passes from E to E the same operation again takes place of energizing the next succeeding pair of magnets, drawing the rod I into contact with the conducting wire 0 and charging the rail E so that the current will again be sufficient to continue the motion of the car while the preceding rail will again be cut out by the action of the lug P upon the lever Q which separates the magnets O and N of the rail E. Thus each section of the rail of whatever length will be temporarily charged while the car is passing and instantly cut out of its connection as soon as the car has passed. Any small amount of electricity which may remain in the rodI and its connections, will be carried off by means of a contact piece R which is connected with the ground wire S and which is so placed that when the rod I is moved back to break the contact of the magnets, the cone M will strike this contact piece R, and as the magnets M and O and the rail E are connected, any electricity with which they may be charged will be conveyed away as soon as the supply has been cut off.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-- 1. In an electric railway, trolley rails extending within a conduit and made in sections insulated from each other, a conducting wire extending parallel with the line of track in a sealed insulated channel, and means comprising electro-magnets one of which is fixed to the trolley rail and the other to .the rod whereby the sections of trolley rail are charged successively from said wire while the car is passing and the current cut off therefrom after the car has passed.

2. In an electric railway, a continuous trolley rail made in independent insulated sections and extending within an underground conduit, a sealed tube parallel with the line of track within which the electrical conductin g wire extends, transverse tubular passages connecting said tube with the trolley rail conduit at the junction of each of the sections of trolley rail, a rod movable in said tube and means comprising electro-magnets interposed between the trolley rail and rod whereby contact is formed between said rod and the conducting wire and with the section of rail adjacent thereto whereby said section is charged with electricity.

3. In an electric railway, a trolley rail extending continuously in an underground conduit and made in independent insulated sections, a sealed tube, an electrical conducting wire extending through said tube, transverse passages connecting said tubewiththe conduit at points opposite the junction of the trolley rails, a rod slidable in said passage passing through an insulated and water-tight packing joint at the junction with the conduit and having a means for connecting and disconnecting it with the conducting wire, electro-magnets, one of which is fixed to the trolley rail and the other to the sliding rod so that when energized they will be drawn together and the rod moved so as to form contact between the conducting wire and the rail section and when de-energized the rod may be moved back so as to break said contact.

4. In an electric railway, a trolley rail ex tending in an underground conduit and made in independent insulated sections, an electrical conducting wire extending in a hermetically sealed tube parallel with the line of track, passages connecting said tube with the conduit at the junction of each two sections of the trolley rail, a rod slidable in said passage having at one end an electro magnet which when charged acts to draw the rod into contact with the rail and at the other end a device whereby contact is made between the rod and the conducting wire so that the trolley rail may be charged therefrom, a mechanism by which the magnets are disengaged and the rod moved backward, consisting of a lever engaging the magnet or sliding rod, and a lug upon the trolley shank which engages the lever as the trolley passes from one section of rail to the next whereby the rod is disconnected from the conducting wire and rail and the current cut olf from the preceding section of the rail,substantially as herein described.

5. In an electric railway, trolley rails extending in an underground conduit and made in independent insulated sections, an electrical conducting wire extending parallel with the line of track and within a sealed and insulated containing tube, transverse passages extending from said tube to the conduit, insulated rods slidable therein having magnets which when energized act to move the rods into contact with the rails and devices wheremay be charged is grounded, substantially as to herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

by said movement forms contact simultaneously with the conducting Wire, disengaging mechanism by which the rod is moved backward as the trolley passes the joint between two meeting rail sections, and a brush or contact piece with which the rod makes contact when thus moved backward whereby any electricity with which the trolley rail and rod I Witnesses:

S. H. NoURsE, J. A. BAYLESS. 

